Police Sieges Pennsylvania

A tense 48-hour standoff between police and a millionaire accused of killing an Olympic wrestler ended Sunday when the heir to the du Pont fortune was captured as he tried to restore heat to his chilled mansion. John E. du Pont was unarmed when he stepped outside to fix his boiler and was arrested by a SWAT team hiding in the woods. He was not injured. He had been without heat since police cut off his boiler system Friday night.

A fired nurse, who spent a second day holed up at a state mental hospital with two hostages, told police negotiators he wanted a full investigation of the facility's decision to dismiss him, police said. As few signs of a breakthrough emerged in the armed standoff at Norristown State Hospital near Philadelphia, police remained optimistic that negotiators would persuade 40-year-old Denis Czajkowski to surrender peacefully and release his captives unharmed.

A sniper armed with a rifle and handgun fired several shots from the roof of a 15-story apartment building Friday, holding police at bay for five hours before shooting himself and plunging to the street, authorities said. No one else was hurt in the incident, police said. The gunman, identified as Paul Fisher, wore an orange hunting cap and was perched on a rooftop ledge at Moorhead Towers, a high-rise unit for the elderly and handicapped on the city's east side.

More than 100 customers were kept inside a busy check-cashing service for hours Friday by police who believed the patrons had been taken hostage by armed robbers dressed as security guards. After four tense hours, police determined that no robbers were inside and no money had been taken. All the customers inside The Financial Exchange, mostly women and children, then filed out one by one. No one was injured. Two men were arrested and at least three were being sought.

More than 100 customers were kept inside a busy check-cashing service for hours Friday by police who believed the patrons had been taken hostage by armed robbers dressed as security guards. After four tense hours, police determined that no robbers were inside and no money had been taken. All the customers inside The Financial Exchange, mostly women and children, then filed out one by one. No one was injured. Two men were arrested and at least three were being sought.

Negotiations and tear gas were not enough to persuade a convicted drug user to surrender, so police decided to flush him out with 2,500 gallons of water. A cold and wet Charles Stiles, 39, emerged from his house into 30-degree temperatures Sunday and was treated for hypothermia. Then police took him to jail.

A man asked to see a shotgun at a Kmart store Thursday, then loaded the weapon and used it to hold 25 people hostage before surrendering more than five hours later, authorities said. No one was hurt. The man, identified by police as Larry Eugene Fry of Carlisle, Pa., released the hostages before walking out of the store unarmed. State Trooper Karen Dutrow said a domestic dispute may have triggered the incident.

Wary police conducted intermittent negotiations Saturday with a volatile member of the Du Pont chemical dynasty who remained barricaded in his vast manor house with an arsenal of weapons more than a day after he apparently killed an Olympic wrestler on his estate. Police SWAT teams took cover in howling wind and driving rain, adopting a waiting strategy as they faced the lone suspect in the case, John E. du Pont, a crack shot who once tried out for the Olympic pentathlon team.

A fired nurse, who spent a second day holed up at a state mental hospital with two hostages, told police negotiators he wanted a full investigation of the facility's decision to dismiss him, police said. As few signs of a breakthrough emerged in the armed standoff at Norristown State Hospital near Philadelphia, police remained optimistic that negotiators would persuade 40-year-old Denis Czajkowski to surrender peacefully and release his captives unharmed.

A tense 48-hour standoff between police and a millionaire accused of killing an Olympic wrestler ended Sunday when the heir to the Du Pont fortune was captured as he tried to restore heat to his chilled mansion. John E. du Pont was unarmed when he stepped outside to fix his boiler and was arrested by a SWAT team hiding in the woods. He was not injured. He had been without heat since police cut off his boiler system Friday night.

Wary police conducted intermittent negotiations Saturday with a volatile member of the Du Pont chemical dynasty who remained barricaded in his vast manor house with an arsenal of weapons more than a day after he apparently killed an Olympic wrestler on his estate. Police SWAT teams took cover in howling wind and driving rain, adopting a waiting strategy as they faced the lone suspect in the case, John E. du Pont, a crack shot who once tried out for the Olympic pentathlon team.

Negotiations and tear gas were not enough to persuade a convicted drug user to surrender, so police decided to flush him out with 2,500 gallons of water. A cold and wet Charles Stiles, 39, emerged from his house into 30-degree temperatures Sunday and was treated for hypothermia. Then police took him to jail.

A man asked to see a shotgun at a Kmart store Thursday, then loaded the weapon and used it to hold 25 people hostage before surrendering more than five hours later, authorities said. No one was hurt. The man, identified by police as Larry Eugene Fry of Carlisle, Pa., released the hostages before walking out of the store unarmed. State Trooper Karen Dutrow said a domestic dispute may have triggered the incident.

A sniper armed with a rifle and handgun fired several shots from the roof of a 15-story apartment building Friday, holding police at bay for five hours before shooting himself and plunging to the street, authorities said. No one else was hurt in the incident, police said. The gunman, identified as Paul Fisher, wore an orange hunting cap and was perched on a rooftop ledge at Moorhead Towers, a high-rise unit for the elderly and handicapped on the city's east side.